Take that, MoviePass! Cinemark launches monthly membership program

Cinemark has launched a monthly movie membership program titled Movie Club, which will offer a free monthly ticket and concession discounts, the exhibition giant announced on Tuesday.

For $ 8.99 a month, members will receive a 2D movie ticket each month with upgrades of premium format tickets available, the ability to reserve seats and purchase tickets online with no online rates, plus a discount of 20 percent in concessions during each visit.

Unused tickets never expire and may be extended to the following months, and buying additional tickets will cost the member the original price of $ 8.99.

Read also: MoviePass returns to lower the monthly price below the average cost of the movie ticket

"We are delighted to launch our exclusive movie membership program completely driven by consumer research", said Mark Zoradi, CEO of Cinemark. "Based on the feedback we received, we designed Movie Club with all the features and benefits that moviegoers want most in a membership program without any hassle, allowing our guests to enjoy the cinematic experience with their friends and family." [1

9659002] To develop the new membership program, Cinemark conducted consumer research and studied other models of subscription programs, where they discovered that consumers preferred a monthly membership program with the benefits that Movie Club will offer. Movie Club is accepted at all Cinemark locations throughout the country, including Century Theaters, CineArts, Tinseltown and Rave Cinemas.

The new show appears to be a direct response to MoviePass, which announced a new subscription plan in August that would allow subscribers to watch a movie of their choice once a day at participating theaters for $ 9.95 a month instead of $ 45, not including premium formats such as 3D and IMAX.

Also read: Teachers CFO AMC: There is a "Day of Judgment" for MoviePass Strategy

Last month, MoviePass lowered its price to $ 7.50 per month (including a processing fee) with a new annual subscription. That's significantly less than the national average price of $ 8.93 for a movie ticket that the National Association of Theater Owners reported in October for the third quarter of 2017.

Many exhibitors have opposed the MoviePass pricing plan although the Subscription service generally pays full ticket prices to theaters for its subscribers, expressing concern that consumers get too used to lower costs that can not be sustained when MoviePass raises their rates or closes.

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